April 28 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 index .FTSE is seen opening higher on Thursday, with futures FFIc1 up 0.31%.

* STANCHART: Standard Chartered's STAN.L first-quarter pre-tax profit rose 6%, beating market expectations, as the emerging markets-focused lender benefited from rising interest rates and flagged a robust outlook.

* SHELL: Shell SHEL.L tightened its restrictions on buying Russian oil, saying it would no longer accept refined products with any Russian content, including blended fuels.

* CHANNEL 4: Britain's government said it will set out plans to sell Channel 4, the publicly owned but commercially funded broadcaster established in the 1980s, in a policy paper.

* GFG ALLIANCE-SFO: Teams of investigators have visited the British addresses of Indian-British steel magnate Sanjeev Gupta's GFG Alliance, demanding documents such as balance sheets, annual reports and other correspondence, the UK Serious Fraud Office (SFO) said.

* METALS: Copper prices edged higher on hopes that China will step up its metal-intensive infrastructure construction to counter the impact of COVID-19 lockdowns, although a stronger dollar limited gains.

* GOLD: Gold prices weakened to a two-month low as an elevated dollar hurt demand for greenback-priced bullion, while an impending U.S. interest rate hike also dampened the metal's appeal as an inflation hedge.

* OIL: Oil prices edged lower in early Asian trade as concerns about rising coronavirus cases in China, the world's biggest oil importer, weighed on futures markets.

* FTSE 100: London's FTSE 100 edged up on Wednesday, driven by gains in miners and strong corporate updates, although a fall in cyclical stocks and industrial software company Aveva Group capped its rise.

* UK CORPORATE DIARY:

Sainsbury

SBRY.L

FY results Barclays

BARC.L

Q1 results Glencore

GLEN.L

Q1 Production Report Smith & Nephew

SN.L

Q1 Trading update Indivior

INDV.L

Q1 results Unilever

ULVR.L

Q1 Trading statement Schroders

SDR.L

Q1 Trading update Inchcape

INCH.L

Q1 Trading update Synthomer

SYNTS.L

Q1 Trading update Weir Group

WEIR.L

Q1 Interim Management

statement Whitbread

WTB.L

FY results St James’s Place

STJ.L

Q1 New Business

Announcement

* For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on:

TODAY'S UK PAPERS

> Financial Times

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Reporting by Amna Karimi in Bengaluru